[Asterisk-Users] SS7 signaling/Softswitch

[Lal, Deepak (Contractor)]

I'm confused a bit about the following and was hoping to get some answers on
this group - What is exactly implied when we say asterisk can connect to a PSTN.
Does it mean connecting to the PSTN via PRI/T1/E1? If yes, then I assume
asterisk does not need to do any SS7 signaling and all it does (playing the role
of a PBX) is to connect to a Class 5 Switch at the CO. Is this a correct
statement? 

As I understand, Asterisk does not support SS7 signaling. So does this imply
that asterisk cannot be really used in a CO as a Softswitch which would
interface with the PSTN via SS7 signaling? If that is the case, the only
softswitch functionality that Asterisk provides is the media conversion between
TDM circuit and an IP network (using SIP)? Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any clarification.

Deepak